Guanyu Zhou's career as a Grand Prix driver is in its infancy and the Alfa Romeo F1 rookie is under no allusions about the amount of work that lies ahead.
Zhou has the privilege of being the first F1 driver to fly the Chinese flag in the sport. But so far, the talk around the 22-year-old charger has centered more around his marketing value for his team and F1 than his outright ability to succeed in becoming his country's first winner among motorsport's elite.
But that prospect remains a long way down the road. For now, Zhou is focused on his apprenticeship and development this year with Alfa.
"There's so much I have to learn with the car, with all the switches, and of course with the new tracks this year and with a new crew around me," said the Chinese driver, speaking during Alfa's unveiling on Sunday's of its 2022 livery.
"The team really relies on the drivers so you have to give very straightforward feedback and information, and that really can help the team move forward.
"It's been a great experience so far at the first pre-season test, but I know there's still a long way to go, and a lot of knowledge for me to get used to."
©AlfaRomeo
Despite his rookie status, Zhou reckons that F1's new regulations offer an opportunity for the sport's lower-ranked teams to move up the order, which is precisely one objective for which the news regs have been devised.
"We are at the beginning of a new era with new cars and new regulations, and this creates an opportunity for all teams to make progress since we are all starting from scratch," he said.
"Everyone at Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN has been incredibly helpful since I joined and seeing all the hard work, the commitment and motivation from everyone, in Hinwil and at the track, fills me with pride and excitement.
"I can’t wait to be on the grid with this car and work with my team to bring home the results we are targeting together."
Alfa endured a tough three days in Barcelona last week, due to reliability issues that limited the Swiss outfit's mileage.
Zhou logged 112 laps in testing, or under half the distance enjoyed by Ferrari's Carlos Sainz who topped the lap count with 236 laps of the Circuit de Catalunya.
Queried on the widespread porpoising issue experienced by many of the teams' cars in testing, Zhou confirmed that Alfa hadn't been immune to the phenomenon.
"From day two, there was already quite a bit of improvement from day one from the feedback we got," he added.
"Of course, the problem is still there a little bit for all the teams, and I think that's the biggest limitation with the new car for everyone.
"We just have to find a way around it which provide us with as much downforce as possible, and also reduce the bouncing on the brakes, but in terms of safety, there should be no problem."
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